A man crouching in a studio while holding a Dalmatian puppy. The man is wearing a dark navy polo shirt and blue jeans, and the puppy is white with black spots.

Puppy School and Dog Training in Paddington

Our puppy school is on Oxford Street in Paddington, and we train older dogs one to one in your own home across Paddington, Woollahra and Darlinghurst.

See What We Do
No pain. No fear. No force. Training in your own home · Free meet and greet, no obligation
No pain. No fear. No force. Training in your own home · Free meet and greet, no obligation

Puppy school and dog training in Paddington, the short version

Quick Facts

Where We Work: In your own home, across Paddington, Woollahra, Darlinghurst and Surry Hills

What We Offer

Council Area

Woollahra, with the western end falling under City of Sydney

Nearest Puppy School Location

Dogs in Town, 308 Oxford Street, Paddington NSW 2021

Distance

In the suburb. Our puppy school is on Oxford Street itself

What We Cover

Puppies from eight weeks, teenage dogs, and adult behaviour

Who Does The Training?

Luke Buchanan. Red Cross pet first aid, AFP background checked

Puppy school and puppy preschool in Paddington

Venue Name

Venue Name

Dogs in Town, Paddington

Learn more
Venue Address

Venue Address

308 Oxford Street, Paddington NSW 2021

Learn more
Days & Times

Days & Times

Four weeks, one hour a week. Rolling start, no fixed intake dates

Learn more
About The School

About The School

Puppy school, puppy preschool and puppy kindergarten all mean the same thing. Vets tend to say preschool, we say puppy school, and it is the same four weeks either way.

Paddington is our flagship venue and it is on Oxford Street, so for most people here it is a walk rather than a drive. It is a purpose built dog facility rather than a hired hall, fully enclosed and properly cleaned, which matters when puppies are meeting each other for the first time.

Classes are capped at ten puppies and we match them by size. Paddington leans small, so a toy breed here is genuinely learning alongside dogs their own size rather than being the exception in the room.

Learn More

Where we work around Paddington

What it is like owning a dog in Paddington

What It Is like

Paddington is terraces, and terraces change the job. Most homes here have a courtyard rather than a garden, walled on three sides and shared with the neighbours by sound if not by fence.

That is not the same problem as a flat with no outdoor space at all, and it is not the same as a house with a lawn. A courtyard gives you toileting, but it gives you almost no decompression, because there is nothing to do out there and every sound from three neighbouring houses lands in it.

The other Paddington fact is the streets. Narrow footpaths, cars parked flush to the kerb, and a dog coming the other way with no room for either of you to give ground. A dog who is only just coping meets that several times a walk.

Popular Landmarks
  • Oxford Street
  • Five Ways
  • Paddington Markets
  • Trumper Park
  • Glenmore Road
  • Centennial Park
  • Victoria Barracks
Main Housing Style

Mostly terraces with small walled courtyards. Very few properties have a lawn, and almost none have room to run.

The puppy and dog problems we get called about in Paddington

Local Challenges

  • Barking in a courtyard that three neighbours can hear. Terraces share walls, so a dog left outside is a dog broadcasting into other people's kitchens
  • Reactivity on narrow footpaths. Oxford Street and the Five Ways streets give you no room to cross for space, so dogs pass close whether either of them is ready
  • Off lead access that runs on a timetable. Royal Hospital for Women Park is the only off lead option in Paddington and it is not available in the middle of the day at all
  • Recall near traffic. Trumper Park is on lead at all times, so the nearest real off lead running is a timed window or a drive
  • Front door reactivity. Terrace front doors open straight onto the footpath, so every passing dog arrives with no warning
  • Stairs. Most Paddington terraces are vertical, and a dog who guards the top of the stairs controls the whole house

Common Breeds

  • Cavoodle
  • French Bulldog
  • Miniature Dachshund
  • Jack Russell Terrier
  • Whippet

Off Lead Spots

  • Royal Hospital for Women Park, Glenmore Road, off lead 3.30pm to 10.30am Monday to Saturday only
  • Moncur Reserve, Woollahra, 3.30pm to 10.30am
  • Cooper Park upper section and Bellevue Gardens, at all times
  • Centennial Park, off lead outside Grand Drive, managed by Centennial Parklands rather than the council

Busy Streets

  • Oxford Street
  • Glenmore Road and the Five Ways
  • Jersey Road
  • Moore Park Road

What we get called about in Paddington, by age

Puppies up to 16 weeks in Paddington

Toileting on a courtyard that never dries

A walled Paddington courtyard gets very little sun and almost no airflow, so it holds smell. A puppy who toilets there is reinforced by the smell of the last time, and owners end up scrubbing rather than training.

We pick one surface, put it in the right place for the light the courtyard actually gets, and get the puppy onto the street routine early so the courtyard is not doing all the work.

Stairs, and a puppy who cannot yet do them

Terraces are vertical. Most Paddington puppies get carried up and down for the first month, which is fine, and then the carrying quietly becomes the relationship. By four months you have a dog who asks to be lifted whenever anything is difficult.

We set the stairs up as a thing the puppy learns rather than a thing that happens to them, and we tell you when to stop carrying.

Socialisation on Oxford Street, which is the wrong place to start

Owners are told to socialise their puppy and take them to the busiest street in the suburb, on a Saturday, with the markets on. A puppy who has a frightening first month around dogs does not grow out of it, they grow into it.

Puppy school is on Oxford Street too, but inside and controlled, which is the version that builds confidence rather than spending it.

Teenage dogs, 17 to 32 weeks, in Paddington

Lunging where there is no room to move

This is the Paddington one. On a wide street you make space and the moment passes. On a Paddington footpath with cars parked flush to the kerb there is no space to make, so an adolescent who is only just coping gets put over threshold several times a walk.

We work on your route and your timing before we work on the dog, because a walk you can actually get through is the thing that makes the training stick.

Recall that has nowhere to be practised

Trumper Park is on lead at all times and Royal Hospital for Women Park shuts its off lead window in the middle of every day. So Paddington adolescents often get their first real off lead freedom at six months, in Centennial Park, on a Sunday, with two hundred other dogs. It rarely goes well.

We build it on a long line first, on your street and in the timed window, so the first real off lead run is not also the first test.

Guarding the front door

A terrace front door opens onto the footpath. There is no path, no gate and no warning, so a dog hears the whole street arrive at once. Adolescence is when they decide that is their job.

We take the job off them rather than trying to stop the noise, because the barking is the symptom and the job is the cause.

Dogs 32 weeks and older in Paddington

Barking into three neighbours at once

Terraces share walls on both sides and a courtyard behind. A dog left in the courtyard is not barking into a garden, they are barking into other people's kitchens, and the complaint usually arrives before the owner realises there is a problem.

We start inside the house rather than at the door, because being left is only unbearable when being together was never neutral.

Reactivity that only happens on the walk

Plenty of Paddington dogs are completely fine at home and impossible outside it. That is not two dogs, it is one dog with no way to create distance, and the street is where that shows.

We do this on your actual streets, at the hour you actually walk, because a quiet demonstration in a park does not transfer to Glenmore Road at six in the evening.

A rescue settling into a terrace

A dog who has never lived in a house arrives with no idea what a staircase, a courtyard or a shared wall means. The first fortnight sets what they think normal looks like, and a terrace gives them a lot to decide about quickly.

We come in early rather than after something has gone wrong, and set the house up so the dog is learning the right thing from the first week.

A man crouching in a studio while holding a Dalmatian puppy. The man is wearing a dark navy polo shirt and blue jeans, and the puppy is white with black spots.

A Paddington call out, start to finish

A composite of the calls we take here. Details changed, the pattern is real.

The call

An eighteen month old Cavoodle in a terrace off Glenmore Road. Lunging and screaming at every dog on the walk. The owner had stopped walking him in daylight and was doing ten at night, which had solved the embarrassment and none of the problem.

What we found

He was fine with dogs. He was not fine with dogs at one metre with a parked car on one side and a wall on the other, which in Paddington is most of the walk. Every outing had been putting him over threshold five or six times, so the walk itself had become the thing he was bracing for before the door opened.

What changed

We changed the route first, to the wider streets where he could be given room, and moved the walk back into daylight at a quieter hour. Once he was getting through a walk without going over, we closed the distance deliberately. Around three weeks before he could pass a dog on a narrow footpath, and the late night walks stopped.

What owners say, at every age

Absolutely fantastic, we had a 10 week old demanding Labrador puppy, 3 days later he barely lets out a yelp. It seemed expensive to get 1 on 1 help at first, but having him here meant we could remove any doubt about whether we were on the right track. Plus his online course and ongoing support have been a god send.

Mattice, 10 week old Labrador

I'm in Bellevue Hill and I'm struggling with recall and defiance with my 9 month old puppy. He thinks he's the boss. Luke at Toe Beans showed me a series of easy corrections and behavioural skills that my pup responded to almost immediately. He filled in my missing knowledge.

Lesley, 9 month old puppy, Bellevue Hill

I couldn't believe anyone could really have a big impact on a 7-year-old pet but within just one session, I could see a big difference in both of my dogs. They were calmer, more responsive, and Rosie was completely de-stressed around strange dogs.

Adrienne, 7 year old Bordoodle, Mosman

How we train

How We Train

How We Train

Force free, all of it. No shouting, no punishment, no pain, and nothing that works by hurting your dog.

We call it Relational Leadership. It is less a set of commands than a way of behaving around your dog, so that you become the obvious thing to look at when they do not know what to do. A dog that complies because it is worried about what comes next has not calmed down, it has gone quiet, and that comes back later somewhere less convenient.

Luke's Credentials

Luke Buchanan is the owner of The Toe Beans Co and Sydney's Puppy Trainer. He works as a dog trainer and a dog behaviourist, which in practice means the puppy obedience side and the behaviourism side are handled by the same person rather than referred on. He is Red Cross certified in pet first aid and AFP background checked. Every session is run by Luke.

Force Free & Ethical. Always.

No pain. No fear. No force. No aggression. That is the whole philosophy in plain terms, and it does not bend for a difficult week or a stubborn dog.

Guarantee

Puppy school and dog training in Paddington, in more detail

Puppy school in Paddington runs on Oxford Street, in the suburb itself, and the dog training that follows happens in your own terrace. Most people here start with the four weeks of puppy school and come back to us later for the adolescent and adult work.

Paddington is terraces, and terraces are their own job. A walled courtyard gives you somewhere to toilet a dog and almost nowhere to decompress one, because there is nothing to do out there and every sound from three neighbouring houses lands in it. That is why boundary barking here is a neighbour problem long before the owner notices it is a dog problem.

The other Paddington fact is the footpaths. Narrow, with cars parked flush to the kerb, so there is no room for either of you to give ground when a dog comes the other way. A dog who is only just coping meets that several times a walk, and each pass makes the next one harder.

Off lead access here runs on the most complicated rule in the area. Royal Hospital for Women Park on Glenmore Road is off lead from 3.30pm to 10.30am, Monday to Saturday only. On Sundays between 10am and 8pm dogs are not permitted at all. Trumper Park, which looks like the obvious alternative, is on lead at all times.

  • Puppy school is here in the suburb, on Oxford Street, so for most people it is a walk.
  • Adolescent training for lead reactivity where there is nowhere to step aside.
  • Dog behaviourism for adults, worked in your terrace, on your stairs, at your front door.

Book puppy school in Paddington. See adolescent training and in-home behaviour training. We also work in Woollahra and Darling Point.

Frequently Asked Questions

Puppy school and dog training in Paddington, common questions

Common questions we get about our puppy program.

Puppy school and dog training in Paddington, common questions

What are the main services you offer?

Our dog training runs in three stages and you pick the one that matches your dog's age.

  • 8 to 16 weeks: puppy school, which includes four weeks of group class
  • 17 to 32 weeks: puppy training, for the stage where most owners feel they are losing the dog they had. There is no group class at this age
  • 32 weeks and older: behaviour training, one to one in your own home

Puppy school runs at six venues, and all six take bookings: Paddington, Edgecliff, Neutral Bay, Zetland, Alexandria and Marrickville. Start dates vary by venue, so check the puppy school dates page for what is running next. Everything else happens in your own home, across Sydney.

Which areas of Sydney do you work in?

One to one training happens in your home, anywhere in Sydney within roughly a forty five minute drive of the Harbour Bridge. That covers the:

  • Inner City and City Centre
  • Eastern Suburbs
  • Inner West
  • Lower North Shore
  • Upper North Shore
  • Northern Beaches
  • Hills District
  • Western Sydney
  • South Sydney and St George

Group puppy school runs at six fixed venues within about eight kilometres of the Harbour Bridge: Paddington, Edgecliff, Neutral Bay, Zetland, Alexandria and Marrickville. All six are taking bookings. See the puppy school dates page for current dates.

Why is my dog barking so much?

Barking is communication. Your dog might be bored, anxious, reacting to something outside, or asking for attention. The reason matters. Fixing boredom barking looks very different from fixing fear barking.

My dog goes off at other dogs on the lead. Where do I start?

Find your threshold distance, which is the distance at which your dog first notices another dog but does not yet react. It might be thirty metres, it might be ten. Hold there and work with stop, start, change direction. Do not move closer until your dog shows no reaction at the current distance.

A dog at a seven or eight on the energy scale cannot access the part of the brain that processes food reward, which is why treats at that moment tend to get ignored.

Do Miniature Dachshunds bark a lot?

More than many breeds, yes. They were bred to bark while hunting, so alerting to sounds and movement is in their nature. This makes them good at letting you know when someone's at the door, but it can become excessive without training. Teaching a quiet cue early is worth doing.

What do I do when my puppy has an accident indoors?

If you catch it happening, interrupt neutrally: a calm sound, or simply moving towards them, is enough. Don't startle it and don't scold it. Carry or lead the puppy straight to the toilet spot, wait there, and reward heavily if it finishes. The puppy is learning where toileting works, not that it did something wrong. If you find the accident after the fact, say nothing. The learning window has passed. Clean with enzymatic cleaner and identify where the schedule slipped.

What age does my puppy need to be to start at Paddington?

The group class needs your puppy to have had their second vaccination, which in practice means starting between eleven and thirteen weeks so the four weeks finish by around sixteen weeks.

If your puppy is younger than that, nothing is on hold. The one to one work at your home and the online course both start immediately, and the weeks between eight and eleven are the ones where toileting, biting, crate training and settling are actually decided. Waiting for class to start is the single most common mistake we see.

Can both of us come? Can the kids?

Both of you should come, and we would rather you did. The single most common reason training fails at home is two people applying it differently, and an hour in the room together fixes more of that than any amount of explaining afterwards.

Kids are welcome and are genuinely useful, because your puppy has to learn to behave around them too. Old enough to follow an instruction is the only real requirement.

How much does it cost?

There are four levels and the current prices are all on the puppy school booking page, along with exactly what each one includes.

The four weeks of class are identical at every level. What you are choosing between is how much one to one time you get in your own home, how long you keep the online course, and how directly you can reach us afterwards. Most families land on the second level, which is where a session at home and the full course access switch on.

Dog Training In Nearby Suburbs

Not sure where to start with your Paddington dog?

Come and speak with us about puppy school, teen puppy training or adult dog behaviourism. Book a 15 minute call, it's free and no obligation

Book a free meet and greet Pick A Puppy School

From the blog

Spoodle standing on grass in a Sydney park, apricot wavy coat and long feathered ears
11 min read
Spoodle training: the Cocker brain in a Poodle coat

Spoodle owners in Sydney ring us about two things, and it's the same two every time. The dog can't be...

Read more
Best puppy breeds for families: a small companion dog settled on the floor of a Sydney terrace house
12 min read
Best Puppy Breeds for Families in Sydney: Start With the House You Live In

Most people pick the breed first and think about the house second. The best puppy breeds for families are the...

Read more
Cavoodle training in Sydney: a Cavoodle standing on grass in a suburban park
11 min read
Cavoodle training: what the most popular puppy in Sydney actually needs

Around six in ten of the adult separation cases I take on in Sydney are Cavoodles. That isn't bad luck...

Read more
Adult Weimaraner with a silver-grey coat standing calmly in a sunlit garden, Sydney breed behaviour guide hero image
15 min read
Weimaraner Behaviour: Separation, Testing And The Door

The Weimaraner and the Vizsla get talked about as though they are the same dog in two colours. They are...

Read more